Eddie Hearn denies “boxing is broken” after UFC president Dana White signed a deal with Saudi Arabian investors to create a new boxing league.
Details of this league are unclear, with White declaring in some interviews they will rebuild boxing from the ground up and have their own world titles, while in others saying the league would focus on young talent.
Hearn, one of the biggest boxing promoters in the world, took issue with White suggesting boxing is broken.
“I think it’s great for boxing,” Matchroom’s Hearn said on 5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce podcast.
“One thing I disagree with, is boxing’s not broken.
“Boxing is in a great place, it always has been. There’s always ways we can improve it, but the fact those guys want to come into boxing shows where it’s at.”
White will partner with Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s general entertainment authority, who has spearheaded the Saudi investment in boxing in the last two years.
The new outfit will fall under the TKO banner, which owns the UFC and WWE. The UFC use a league system in MMA, signing fighters to long-term, exclusive deals and having their own promotional world title.
TKO is expected to take over the operation of some of Saudi’s major boxing events, including the mooted super-fight between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Terence Crawford in September in Las Vegas.
MMA in America, however, is not bound by the 2000 Ali Act and Professional Boxing Safety Act 1996, which set legal guidelines for writing contracts and limits to the amount of time fighters can be signed to a promotion.
TKO president Mark Shapiro has spoken out against Ali Act recently, and Hearn is unsure if the UFC model can thrive in boxing.
“I think Dana has a great spot [in MMA] where you can control the fighter, the commercial, everything. You have to do what you’re told,” he said.
“That’s not really going to work in boxing. Also fighters are drastically overpaid in boxing and the margins in MMA are different, so it’s going to be interesting.”
Will boxing’s world titles change?
As well as potentially creating a new league, there has been suggestions the league will look in the long term to push out the four major world titles and their sanctioning bodies – the WBA, WBO, IBF and WBC – by creating their own belt.
Hearn says he does not expect his business relationship with Saudi or Alalshikh to change, but cannot see the major world titles disappearing in the near future.
“For me I get the feeling the league isn’t really for the big names of the sport, but I might be wrong,” Hearn said.
“Dana’s comments saying any belt with three letters before doesn’t matter – I disagree. If you really believe a fighter doesn’t put huge value on a WBC championship you’re mistaken.
“But sport can change.”
Saudi has spent about £5bn in sport since 2021 – saying the investment is being used to diversify the economy away from a dependency on oil.
Critics suggest Saudi’s investment in sport is to gain legitimacy and deflect attention from controversy over its human rights record, a practice known as ‘sportswashing’.
